1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to the use of fabric materials in the manufacture of rolling doors and door blades. More specifically, the invention teaches the use of fireproof yarns and coatings in the production of the door panels, blades or leaves.
2. Description of the Related Art
This invention generally relates to the production of light-weight garage-type doors used in warehouses, industrial facilities, and the like. With the goal of reducing costs associated with heating such large buildings and rooms, interest in doors that could be opened and closed in a minimal time developed. Fabric composites appeared as an alternative to metal for the actual door panel. Their light weight allows for quick operation at a lower cost than that associated with a metal door.
Doors of this variety have been made in two forms. The first, a rolling door, is conceptually much like a window shade. When opened, the pliable single-piece door leaf is pulled upward into a roll above and parallel to the upper horizontal edge of the door opening. The other form is that of a door composed of a number of non-pliable horizontal blades or sections joined together. Each section can be visualized as basically an elongated rectangle whose longer dimension is approximately equal to the width of the door opening. Assembled by joining a suitable number together with the longer dimension horizontal in the finished product, this door operates on a familiar track arrangement, such that when opened, it lies parallel and adjacent to the surface of the ceiling.
The introduction of fabrics poses a new hazard not present with metal doors - that of fire. The success and future potential of these light-weight doors heightens the need for fireproof or flame-retardant fabric materials. That need is satisfied by the invention disclosed and described below.